James l



JAMESL. HOWARD, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

RAILROAD-CAR VENTILAToRs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 70,216, dated October29, 1867.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JAMES L. HOWARD, of` thecity and county of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Ventilators for Railroad-Cars andfor other purposes to which they may be applicable, and that thefollowingis a full, clear, and exact description and specification of myinvention.

My invention is divided into several parts,

some of which may be used without others;

and the object of the iirst part of my invention is to enable thedirection in which air' from the\ventilatingaperture is discharged to bereadily changed. To Vthis end this part of my invention consists of thecombination of the frame of the Ventilating-aperture with adouble-mouthed hood, arranged to turn upon an axis that is transverseboth to the hood and to the Ventilating aperture, so that by turningsaid hood upon said axis either mouth of the hood maybe opened, whilethe other1 mouth is simultaneously closed.

My invention consists further of the combination of the frame of theventilatingaperture and double-mouthed hood, as aforesaid, with arms ortheir equivalent, connected with said hood and extending inward, so thatthe double-mouthed hood, although at the outer side of the said frame,may be readily operated by a force applied at the inner side of theframe.

My invention consists further of the combination of the frame,double-mouthed l hood, and arm, as aforesaid, with a horizontalconnection,bymeans of which the double-mouthed hoods of two or moreVentilating-apertures are connected, so that all of such connecteddouble-mouthed hoods may be moved simul` taneously. This combinationenables the entire row of double-mouthed hoods at the side of arailroad-car to be shifted simultaneously, thereby lessening the timerequired to shift the hoods when the direction in which the car runs isreversed.

My invention consists further of the combination of the frame of aVentilating-aperture that is provided with a hood or external deiiector,with a register-valve for regulating Ythe passage of air through theaperture, and

with a spindle (for operating the valve) arl ranged transversely to theVentilating-aperture, so that when this combination is applied to theroof of a monitor railroad-car, the lower end of the spindle projectsdownward through the roof over the seats, and the handletapplied to saidspindle is within the reach of a passenger when standing up. Thiscombination obviates the necessity of standing up` upon the seat of thecar in order to get at the register, and the hood or deflector used inthis combination may be either a double-mouthed hood or a single-mouthedhood or a plain deector, as found expedient..

My invention consists further of the combination of the iirst, second,and third combinations, before recited, respectively, with aregister-valve for regulating the passage of air through the saidaperture.

My invention consistsfurther of the combination of the first, second,and third combinations, before recited, respectively, with aregistervalve and transverse spindle for the same.

All parts of my invention are embodied in the Ventilating apparatusrepresented in the accompanying drawing- Figure l representing theexterior of the apparatus; Fig. 2, the interior of the same; Figs. 3 and4, top views of the same. Fig. 5 representing a horizontal section ofthe apparatus 5 Fig. 6, a vertical section of thesame, and Figs. 7, 8,and 9 representing views of parts of the apparatus.

In the said apparatus the frame A of the Ventilating-aperture B isconstructed to be secured to the outer sidewof the car-body, and theregister-frame C is constructed to be secured to the inner side of saidbody. The frame A of the aperture is provided with lugs d d or brackets,with which the double-mouthed hood E is connected by pivots a u', whosecentral lines form the axis on which the hood turns; and as these pivotsextend transversely to the aperture and to the double-mouthed hood, theaxis on which the latter turns is transverse to the aperture and to thehood. Hence, the direction in which the current of air passes may bechanged by simply moving the hood upon said transverse axis from theposition in which it i's drawn in Fig. 5 to that represented by thedotted lines E'; and by such movement one mouth of the 4hood is opened,while the other is closed by the movement of its lip against the frameof the `aperture, which is provided with a rim, m, that overlaps the lipofthe closed mouth of the hood. The double-mouthed hood E, thus combinedwith the frame A, is connected with an arm, F, that extends' inward, sothat the force used to change the position-of the hood may be appliedvat the inner side of the frame of the ventilatin g-aperture.

The connection between the arm F and the double-mouthed hood is made bymeans of one of the pivots a, which is'fitted to turn in the lug d ofthe frame, but is secured to the hood and to the arm.

In order that the arm F may be conveniently operated by force'applied atthe inner side of the car-body, thevr inner end ofthe arm F is providedwith a pin, b, whichV is received in a slot, c, formed in a lever, Gr,which is lcon-V nected by a pivot with the frame G of the register, andextends into the car-body; and in order that-two or more hoods may bemoved simultaneously, a connection,` consisting of a cord, H, is securedto `the operating-lever G by means of afswivel, e, which, although notessential, is advantageous. v 1 In practice, th's cord is kextendedhorizontally along the sidev or roof of the car-body, and connects withthe hoods of all the ventilatin g-apertures-through their operating-levers Grand arms F. At each end of the car the `cord may be passeddownward over a pulley, so thatl by pulling one endf or' the other ofthe cord all the hoods may be turned simultaneously.

The register in the present exampleonsists of two valves, I I, arrangedto turn upon central pivots at their upper and lower ends, the pivotsbeing fast to the valves, andl received in sockets' in theregister-frame C. The register-frame C is connected with the frame A ofthe'ventilating-aperture by the wood-work J and by the operating-leverGr and arm F, so that the register is combined with the doublemouthedhood E and Ventilating-aperture B, and regulates the passage of airthrough it by being opened to a greater or less extent by the turning ofthe valves I I upon their pivots. l'Ihe two valves are connected by alink, n, which is jointed to them rby pivots passing through lugs gg,'so that when one valve is turned the other is necessarily turned tothe same extent; and in order that the register may be operated frombeneath it one of the Yvalves I is connected with aspindle, l, whichextends transversely .through an aperture in the frame of the register asufficient distance to permit a handle, K, to be applied to it at theinner side Tof the ceiling of the car, where it may be convenientlyreached by a passenger.

The connection withthe spindle in lthe pres- I entcase is effected.y bysquaring one ofthe 'pivotsof -the valve, and fitting it in a squaresocketin a sleeve, f, which is tted to turn in the register-frame. yTheend of the spindle is also squared and fitted into the opposite end ofthe same socket of the sleeve f, and the handle K is secured to thespindle 'Z by a pin, in manner similar to that in which a door-knob issecured to its spindle.

The apparatus thus described contains the frame of the ventilatin gaperture, doublemouthed hood, arm, connection H, register- .valves I I,register-frame C, and transverse spindle l for operating the registervalve, all operating in combination, so that each one or more of theseis combined with the residue.

The form of the Ventilating-aperture may,

of course, be varied, asalso the form of the hood, provided thedouble-mouthed construction be retained. The form of the register mayalso be varied, and one or more registervalves may be used, as deemedexpedient. So, also, the transverse spindle may be placed at the inneror outer side of the register-frame, and instead of being connecteddirectly with the register -val've, by its pivot,'may be connected withit through a link, cog-sectors, or levers, as found expedient.

Having thus described an apparatus embodying all parts of my invention,I declare thatl I am aware that deilectors of various kinds have beencombined with the ventilating-*apertures of railroadcars, such, forexample, as a hood turning upon an axis extending axially through thecenter of the ventilating-aperture and hood, inclined deiiecting-platesturning upon -vertical axes, and curved deecting-plates arranged toslide on their edges in cases on the exterior of the car.

I am also' aware that two or more deflectors of the last two kinds havebeen connected by rate members of whichV my new combinations arecomposed; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The'combination of the frame of a ventilating-aperture with adouble-mouthed hood, turning upon an axis arranged transversely to thehood and' to the aperture, substantially as before set forth.

2. The combination of the said frame and double-mouthed hood with arms GF, by means of 'which the said'hood, at the outer side of the frame, maybe operated from' the inner side of the frame, substantially as beforeset forth. l

3. The combination of the said frame, double-mouthed hood, and arm, witha connection by means of which two or more of saidv hoods may be turnedsimultaneously, substantially as set forth.

4.- The combination of the frame of a ventilating-aperture having a hoodconnected with it, with a register-valve, and with a transverse spindle,K, for the purpose of operating said register-valve, substantiallyA asbefore set and a transverse spindle for operating said forth.

5. The combination of each of the first three combinations aforesaid,with a register-valve for regulating the passage of air 4through theventilating-aperture7 substantially as before set fort 6. Thecombination of each of the rst three combinations aforesaid with aregister-valve,

valve, substantially as before set forth. In testimony whereof I havehereto set my hand this 9th day of April, 1867.

JAMES L. HOWARD.

